a lady when you kiss me
by Cerberusia
Summary: Out on dates, Dave pulls out Kurt's chair before sitting down himself, but it's Kurt who fixes the car. A short fic about subverting expectations.


Out on dates, Dave pulls out Kurt's chair before sitting down himself. If they walk anywhere, he offers his arm and walks on the outside. Across a table or on a bench he will take Kurt's hand in his and kiss it tenderly. He always pays the bill at the end.

For his part, Kurt giggles and simpers at Dave's jokes, takes his arm when offered and makes a point of curling into his side as Dave puts a protective arm around him. He dresses up and applies makeup and occasionally wears a skirt. In kisses, he lets Dave initiate and lead. As the lady to Dave's gentleman, he is always elegant.

They return home, and the moment they get in the door Dave drops to his knees and kisses Kurt's boots, one at a time, reverently.

Kurt has Dave make love to him like they do in romance novels: slow and sweet, like the married couple they are.

Sometimes Dave will buy flowers on his way home. Roses if he can, because he knows that Kurt's a romantic at heart. He takes the greatest care that they don't get crushed on the subway, and presents them to Kurt at the first opportunity - sometimes he's home before Dave, sometimes long after. The hours of a designer are much less regular than those of an architect. Kurt exclaims and puts them in a vase in pride of place on a table in the lounge or hall, and if they ever have someone over who comments on them (and they always do, because Dave buys the best, most beautiful blooms he can find), Dave gets to hear the note of pride in Kurt's voice as he says, _oh yes, my husband bought them for me_.

Sometimes it's Kurt who brings flowers for Dave - tulips, his favourite. Dave puts them in water overnight and takes them into the office in the morning, where they get put in a vase in pride of place on the sideboard, and occasionally Dave looks up from the plan he's drafting to see them, yellow or pink or orange, and doesn't even fight the smile.

In the city it's easier to take the subway, but when he has to go out of town Dave takes the car - a Navigator, because Kurt likes them. It's a good car for the most part, but just sometimes in the depths of New York winter it decides it can no longer be assed to start. Dave sympathises, but he needs to meet his client in an hour, a call-out mechanic will take too long (plus it's kind of early) and he knows absolutely shit about cars.

Whenever this happens, he's interrupted in his cursing by Kurt, who taps him on the shoulder, hands him his cup of coffee and goes to get his overalls. Maybe ten minutes later, the Navigator is purring contentedly under his hands. He takes the empty cup back, gives Dave a goodbye kiss, and goes back into the house.

The first time, Kurt had said _watch me_ while he did it. Dave did. The next time, he'd asked _don't you remember?_ and Dave had shrugged. _I'm just not good with cars_. Kurt had rolled his eyes and sighed, but come outside to fix it anyway.

(Dave doesn't tell him that he likes to watch him bite his lip in concentration, his pale, clever hands so sure embedded in the intricacies of the engine - but he thinks Kurt knows).

Sometimes, people ask Dave who's the 'man' in the relationship. They're joking, of course: it's obviously Dave, a man's man next to his camp, elfin husband.

But once, in the run-up to a big show when Kurt's stressed and working copious amounts of overtime, after work Dave takes the subway to Kurt's offices, carrying fancy coffee and cake. Kurt will complain that it'll make him fat, but eat it anyway.

It's nearly six, but still the offices are a hive of activity; a kind of controlled chaos, and in the middle of it all is Kurt barking orders, tape measure in hand, pencil tucked behind his ear. Dave is struck by a fierce surge of affection for him: he looks like some kind of fey overlord (a phrase he'll tell Kurt later to make him laugh) bossing his minions about to produce a more ornate spiderweb cloak.

He waits patiently for Kurt to notice him, and when he does he hefts the coffee and cake and Kurt's face breaks out in the widest smile he's seen in a week. Dave carefully wades his way through the racks and harried assistants pushing them to hand over the edibles to his husband. He looks like he needs them: he's in his element here and loves his job a ridiculous amount, but Dave knows that he'll take a whole day off after the show to rest. He gives Kurt a kiss on the cheek along with the food, because he knows that'll make both of them feel better.

An assisstant comes up alongside Kurt with a clipboard with a frightening array of tick-boxes on it. She looks up at Dave, then at his wedding ring and gives him a brief but genuine smile.

"Ah yes," says Kurt, taking a delighted sip of his coffee and exchanging a sly side-glance with Dave, both of them ready for their old private joke: "Have you met my wife?"


End file.
